Mayor Denis Coderre has cancelled a large contract to renovate the Biodôme for Montreal’s 375th anniversary after the bids came in at more than double an estimate of $14.2 million for the work.

The city obtained three bids on the project in late July, the lowest of which was $31 million, the Montreal Gazette has learned.

The prices that were offered by firms in response to a public call for tenders prompted Coderre to cancel the construction contract last week, city hall confirmed on Monday.

“The mayor decided, given the significant difference between the estimate and the bids, to cancel the contract,” Coderre spokesperson Catherine Maurice said, when asked about the results of the call for tenders.

An outside estimate obtained by the project designers on Aug. 1 had pegged the price of the project to overhaul the natural science museum at $14.2 million, and an estimate the city obtained from an outside firm put it at $23.7 million.

Maurice confirmed that Coderre ordered the contract be cancelled and the city go back to tenders at a later date after being briefed by city officials on the bid results. Members of the city executive committee are usually given a presentation of a project before it comes before the committee for a vote, she said.

Dubbed the “Migration” project, the plan to demolish and rebuild part of the interior of the Biodôme and create a large lobby and a mezzanine overlooking the museum’s four replica ecosystems has been in the works since at least 2013. The facility was to be closed as of September 2016 for the reconstruction project and re-open in December 2017 as a finale for the city’s 375th anniversary celebrations.

However, with the contract now cancelled, the Biodôme will not be closed next month, Maurice said. The Biodôme will remain open in 2017, she said.

The renovation project will be rethought before it goes back to tenders, Maurice said.

“The mayor finds such differences unacceptable and is asking for explanations and that we completely revise the project,” she said.

The city launched the call for tenders for the construction contract on May 17. The deadline for bids was supposed to be July 13, but it was postponed by a week, to July 20. On that date, the city evaluated the firms’ qualifications and previous work, Maurice said. The envelopes containing their prices were opened as a second step on Aug. 3, she said.

The lowest bid came from Magil, at $31 million, Maurice said. The second lowest bid was from QMD, which bid $31.4 million. The highest bid was from TEQ, which bid $33 million.

The city made dozens of changes to the plans and specifications for the project during the bidding period, a Quebec government website where provincial and municipal public tender notices are posted shows. The Système électronique d’appel d’offres, or SEAO, shows there were 40 addenda to the plans and specifications between May 24 and July 18, two days before the extended deadline for bids.

It’s a high number, Maurice said, although she added that it’s a complicated project. As well, 17 of the addenda concern questions that were asked by the bidders, she said.

The city awarded a $3.2-million contract to a group of architecture and engineering firms to prepare the plans and specifications for the Migration project in November 2014 following a design competition. The city and the project designers have said publicly the project is to cost $22 million, including professional and project management fees, studies, construction, restoration, acquisition and relocation of animals at the Biodôme, museology, furniture and contingencies.

The facility housing the Biodôme was constructed as a velodrome for the 1976 Olympics. Its interior was rebuilt and the Biodôme opened in 1992. It receives 835,000 visitors each year.

It’s unknown whether the tenders for the construction contract will be examined by the office of the city’s inspector general, Denis Gallant.

A second project to overhaul another city natural science museum, the Insectarium, has a budget of $23 million. The city hasn’t gone to tenders on that project yet.

In 2014, the government of Premier Philippe Couillard cut funding that had been promised by his predecessor, Pauline Marois, to finance the Biodôme and Insectarium projects and instead finance other 375th anniversary projects.

The Biodôme contract is the latest among the city’s projects for its 375th anniversary to be overestimate.

Montreal is paying as much as double the going price of granite in a $3.45-million contract awarded in May to install rest stops on Mount Royal. The over-all contract is 27 per cent above an estimate the city obtained for the work.

As well, a $17.6-million contract awarded in May to a sole bidder to rebuild underground infrastructure, a staircase and the street along McTavish St. and along Docteur-Penfield Ave. as part of the city’s “Fleuve-Montagne” project was 19.8 per cent above the city’s estimate.

A $15-million “Fleuve-Montagne” contract for work along Sherbrooke W., also awarded in May, was 17.3 per cent above the city’s estimate.

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